This invention relates to the nursing of infants (babies), and particularly to a detachable covering sheet that a mother can drape over her upper frontal area to shield her breasts from view while she is nursing a baby.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,593 to S. Timmons discloses various items of clothing (e.g. a dress, nightgown or blouse) having one or more panels attached to the front of the garment to provide a shield over the breast area of the garment. The panel is sewn or otherwise hingedly attached to the garment on a line slightly below the garment shoulders, with the panel side edges and panel lower edge being completely detachable (severable) from the garment. When a mother desires to nurse her baby she pulls the lower portion of the panel forwardly away from the garment to provide a concealed space between the rear face of the panel and her breasts. The mother holds the baby in this concealed space during the nursing process. The panel conceals the baby and the mother's breast area from view, thereby preventing possible embarrassment to the mother or other people in the area.
There are some disadvantages with the panel arrangement shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,593. For example, the panel completely conceals the baby from the mother's view, such that the mother may not always be fully certain that the nursing action is going ahead satisfactorily. Also, the baby cannot see the mother and may become afraid due to the close confinement of the panel over (around) the baby's face. An additional potential problem is that the panel prevents ventilation air from circulating around the baby's face. Confined air within the concealed space may not have the desired freshness or breathability.
Additional problems relate to the fact that the add-on panel adds to the cost of each garment on which it is used; each garment has to be equipped with its own panel, with some cost duplication. Also, the add-on panel can only be cleaned by cleaning the entire garment.
The present invention contemplates a detachable covering that is entirely separate from any garment worn by the mother. The covering comprises a flexible fabric sheet having a neck strap connected to its upper edge, whereby the sheet can be suspended in front of the mother's torso to conceal the baby and the mother's breast area during the breast-feeding (nursing) operation. The mother's blouse or dress can be unbuttoned, with the fabric sheet acting as an opaque screen. When the nursing operation is completed the fabric sheet can be completely removed and stored until it again is needed.
The flexible fabric sheet has a relatively large sight opening located a slight distance below the neck strap, i.e. in front of the mother's upper chest area. The mother can look down through the sight opening and see the baby's head. Also, the baby can look up or out, to see the mother or ambient scenery. The sight opening also provides a ventilation function, to prevent trappage of air within the space behind the fabric sheet.
Two laterally-spaced slit openings are formed in the sheet below the sight opening. Each slit opening is relatively long, e.g. about five or six inches, such that the mother can pass either hand therethrough to hold the baby. The sheet can be in a relatively unwrinkled condition draped over the mother's frontal area, while the mother's hands extend through the slit openings to hold and move the baby in an essentially unrestrained fashion.